Stagecoach West Scotland has announced plans for the eighth annual Stagecoach Group Green Week programme.
The bus company is running activities between 30 May and 3 June, to raise awareness among staff and customers about the need to continue coming up with new ideas to tackle climate change.
During the week-long programme of activities, Stagecoach West Scotland will encourage employees and customers to continue driving forward the green agenda with the theme of ‘Green Sky Thinking’ to encourage further environmental innovation.
Stagecoach has a strong track record of delivering new environmental solutions, including introducing the UK’s first bio buses which operate on the service 1 route between Stewarton, Kilmarnock and Darvel. The vehicles run on 100% biodiesel manufactured from used cooking oil and other food industry by products.
This year’s Green Week precedes World Environment Day on Sunday 5 June – a widely celebrated global day for positive environmental action when people from all walks of life can come together to ensure a cleaner, greener outlook for future generations.
During the course of the week, Stagecoach West Scotland will carry out the below activities:
This year Stagecoach West Scotland has set up a "Make a Difference Grant" of £500 which will be donated to a local community group or schools project which can clearly show that their project will make a positive environmental difference within their local community.
The grant could be used to purchase litter picking tools to clean up a local community area or to help purchase LED lightning within a community building. Organisations can apply for the grant during Green Week by visiting www.stagecoachbus.com.
@StagecoachWScot twitter followers can tweet their “Green” household tips during Green Week for their chance to win a week’s free travel on Stagecoach West Scotland services.
Stagecoach West Scotland Staff can get involved too in the Eat Green Staff Challenge. During Green Week staff members can email a photo to the Green Team Committee showing a meal that they have prepared themselves using only green coloured foods. The winner will receive a £50 meal voucher for a restaurant of their choice.
Last year Stagecoach launched its new five-year strategy, Shared responsibility, shared future, which has been produced in partnership with the Carbon Trust and sets out a package of investments at the Group’s bus and rail businesses.
It follows a 30% reduction in Stagecoach Group’s carbon intensity since 2007-08 and the achievement of previous targets 12 months ahead of schedule.
By April 2019, the Group is aiming to:
- reduce buildings carbon emissions by 7%
- cut like-for-like fleet transport carbon emissions by 2%
- lower water consumption by 9%
- achieve a waste recycling rate of 83%
Stagecoach Group has already been awarded the prestigious Carbon Trust Standard for measuring, managing and reducing its global carbon footprint, becoming the first public transport operator to have its boundaries certified outside of Europe.
Stagecoach’s annual Green Week covers the Group’s bus and rail operations in Europe and North America. In line with the theme of Green Sky Thinking, the initiative aims to further raise awareness of environmental issues among staff and passengers through a series of events across the Group’s businesses.
Stagecoach West Scotland Managing Director Tom Bridge said: “Our commitment to our environmental responsibility is central to our business and we are continuing to take steps to become a greener business as well as working with our partners to protect our environment.
“To continue our efforts, we need to keep coming up with new innovations and ideas and we hope that during this year’s Green Week, our customers and staff can assist by giving their views and suggestions on how we can work together to protect our planet for future generations. These initiatives need to be done over the longer term, long after Green Week has finished."